Travel: Four (Amazing!) Days in the Bay Area
The first weekend in August, our family of three travelled to the Bay Area to celebrate the wedding of my cousin, Jennifer, to her sweet boy, Alan. We spent a fabulous four days exploring San Francisco, Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, Sonoma, and kept our home base in adorable Mill Valley. And, I, not unexpectedly, fell in love with this part of the country! I find myself pining to get back and even scheming up creative ways to live closer...
After flying into Oakland and grabbing our rental car, we made our first stop at famed In-n-Out burger in San Francisco, near Fisherman's Wharf, for a late lunch. I have to say that I was sadly unimpressed...our southern chain of What-a-Burger is so much tastier! Plus, the location we chose was so busy that we had to eat outside in the wind and amongst the crazy number of very tame pigeons. Our dinner made up for it, however.
After settling into our cozy and very cute cottage in Mill Valley, we met some Emory medical school friends at Sol Food and the Puerto Rican cuisine was amazing! It's an order at the counter eatery with limited seating, but we got there early and got one of the coveted table. The plantains were delicious, the spicy shrimp dish was perfect, and the mango iced tea is something I find myself craving on hot afternoons. I wish I had photos, but we were too into our food and catching up with our friends to remember to take pictures! After dinner, we walked around Mill Valley and found a great playground (we have a special talent for this these days!). It was a fun first night that made us instantly feel like we "belonged" in this quaint town just minutes north of San Francisco.
The wedding magic took place at the cozy English setting of Pelican Inn in Muir Woods beginning with the rehearsal on Friday night. Jack, who was the ring bearer, did a good job rehearsing and made me especially proud wearing his preppy outfit without a fuss. He was awarded with a new Wolverine toy.
We spent the morning of the wedding at Stinson Beach. It was chilly and foggy and even a little drizzly, but glorious, particularly the windy drive through Muir Woods along Highway 1. Then, we went to Super Duper for lunch and ate one of my favorite burgers of all time...and, if you know how much I like burgers, thats's no small feat! The burgers were juicy, the pickles homemade, and the fries garlicky and crisp. Yum!
The wedding was fabulous and fun! So many unique and personal touches added by the very talented and artsy bride. The event was intimate and the dinner delicious and cozy. The English style pub was open the whole time, as they rented the entire Inn for the night, which created a fun pre-wedding and cocktail hour environment. What a wonderful event and setting to meet new friends and to catch up with some family!
On Sunday, we went back into San Francisco to meet another Emory medical school friend and her two lovely little girls for some playtime at Dolores Park in the Mission District. And, I finally got to have a beverage from the highly famed Blue Bottle Coffee- I chose a New Orleans style iced coffee, which was delicious! They have several locations in San Francisco; we went to the funky little kiosk located in an alley in Hayes Valley. You may remember that I did some recipe testing for Blue Bottle (remember the granola that I teased you with?). I should share the recipe here with you since the Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee Book has now been published and I'm acknowledged!
Just before flying out on Monday, we drove into Sonoma and Napa and had a yummy lunch on the back porch of Sonoma's The Girl and The Fig. Then, we enjoyed a wine tasting at one of the oldest wineries in Sonoma, Buena Vista. It was a fun way to end the vacation and made us feel like we took full advantage of the area, although we could have stayed another week, easily and happily! Even weeks after being there, I can tell you that the Bay Area has stolen a little part of my heart. What an amazing place!